McLaren to battle Porsche, Audi and Lambo

McLaren has officially announced that its forthcoming entry-level model will be called the Sports Series, but we can go one better. We’ve learned there will be three separate versions of the new car, two of which you would expect and one illustrated here that you almost certainly won't.

McLaren says the Sports Series will debut in the second quarter of 2015 and it will come as no surprise it will be produced in coupe and spider versions. The revelation is that the third variant will be a GT version, with more luggage space behind the mid mounted engine, that we believe is set to carry the name Longtail.

Sources within McLaren admit that boot space is more important for the Sports Series, which will be competing against cars such as the 911 Turbo and Audi R8 V10, than for the company’s more expensive models as more people will be using it as an everyday car rather than a weekend toy.

Hence the top-secret plan to create a more practical version, which will still be a two-seater, but with a luggage compartment at the back in the extended tail.

We're also told to expect a concave rear screen, similar to that of Ferrari’s original Dino, and a clever cooling system to make sure heat from the engine doesn't melt anything in the boot.

Other mechanical details won’t be officially confirmed until next year, but we believe the Sports Series will use a detuned version of McLaren’s 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 engine that is already used in the 12C and 650S.

It will share the same basic carbon fibre tub as the bigger car, with McLaren’s plan always being that all three of its models would be spun off the same architecture.

The carbon ‘monocell’ will be modified from the existing models, including revised sills to make getting in and out easier. And the ‘Long tail’ name? McLaren recently registered it as a trademark, and it has history with the name.

In 1997, McLaren produced a ‘Long Tail’ version of its original supercar, the F1 GTR. The extended bodywork of the low volume homologation special was designed to make the GTR even more slippery down the long straights at Le Mans, where the short-tail car had been unexpectedly victorious in the previous year’s 24-hour classic.

Although the Longtail GT version will probably be sold at a slight premium over the coupe, McLaren insiders reckon it’s likely to be the most popular of the new variants.

The three new models will dramatically increase production at the company’s Woking factory in England, with the Sports Series set to more than double McLaren’s current volume of around 1400 cars a year.

There’s no word on pricing yet, but to achieve those volumes it will have to be considerably cheaper than the 650S, which sells in Australia from $441,500. Expect something closer to $300K.The most affordable McLaren yet? Bring it on.